Pics of the Kids & What They Enjoy

Here's some pictures of the kids here in Garden City. They have come to enjoy many different things, and the pictures will show most of their favorites. It's a lot of pictures, but it's like a story through their eyes of what brings joy.

For Elijah, swinging is not only one of his most favorite things, but it's very soothing to him. He loved swinging in America, but he's struggled so much since we've returned that he longs for the familiarity and solitude that swinging brings. We're hoping to one day get a small swing set for our roof to help Elijah.

Without big bathtubs you have to get creative...so we use small plastic tubs that some people hand wash their clothes in. The kids love it because they aren't too fond of showers :)

No doubt food is something this baby girl enjoys...and she will eat anything and everything now days!

There's a fascination with climbing into each others bed when one is sleeping. You always hear laughter from the next room as they are both now awake and playing. It's something that brings joy to your heart even when nap time is cut short.

 The malls here have play areas for kids that always have balls. Elijah Loves playing in the balls and that's what he always associates malls with...that and coffee :)

 Reading. Elijah has moved past the board books, though he still likes them, and onto the 'big kid' books such as Nemo, his current favorite. He likes looking at the rich pictures and he 'reads' the story to himself. Then when I read the story to him he corrects me with things that aren't actually printed in the book, but they're quoted in the movie.

 While we were staying with our friends when we first moved here Elise discovered their daughters princess castle. She would go into her room and play with the castle everyday we were there. It was the first time she'd ever seen a castle, so it was cute that that's what she gravitated towards...obviously different than my son. I love having a boy and a girl now!

 Standing on our porch overlooking the trees and the street below is something Elijah and Elise do together often. They of course enjoy the outside air, and that I let them go out alone since it's safe.

Elijah's room, as of right now, is the main spot for all the cool toys, especially with his train table in the middle. They love having the table to play trains, cars, animals, anything really. And whatever Elijah is doing, or wherever he is is where Elise wants to be as well :)

 Spinach and fruit smoothy in the morning! Oh yes, both of them always beg for the smoothy. Elise can't actually say it yet, but if she sees Elijah with a cup that looks similar to their smoothy cup she starts grunting and reaching for his cup.

 Elijah enjoys being the big brother by either bringing Elise food when she's playing in her room, or feeding her. He likes to tear her food into small pieces so that they're bite size. What a good helper :)

Walking. Elise took her first steps by herself on June 19th! She's been walking around the house by holding onto things, but, ever since that day she's become more and more risky in stepping out without holding on. She will even stand straight up from a sitting or squatting position and start walking...now that's a good core :)

 Drawing and coloring. Whenever Elijah, or Elise for that matter, are given crayons they tend to just bite them or break them. It's more just frustrating for me than it is fun for them. But, when Elijah's given a pencil, pen, or markers he is really good at drawing, and he always wants to include every color :)

Hanging out on the balcony that connects both of their rooms is such a fun place to play with toys, or run away from Mama or each other.

Elise also really likes being able to swing the door open and shut.

 Look at this girl! There's a wall between their two balconies, but it has a space they can fit through, which is why it's a great area to run from people. This baby girl will squeeze herself between the railing and the wall to go to whatever size Elijah is on. Because she's just now learning to walk, it takes her quite a while to get through.

Playing under the coffee table is a favorite spot, and especially with the Happyland toys. If you're familiar with Little People brand in the states, this is basically the same thing but a British version, which is sold here. They've both always loved Little People, so when we saw these we were thrilled.

Shoes. Elise loves shoes. In India you don't wear your shoes in the house because once they've been out they're gross. So, we have a pile by our door of shoes till we get a shoe stand...and everyday we have to get Elise out of the shoes.

Sneeking into Elijah's room. This girl thinks she needs to always go into Elijah's room when he's sleeping. She knows she's not to do it, so she will play peek-a-boo with the curtain till you notice her. Then she will laugh and continue prancing right into where she's not to go :)

The swimming pool is always a favorite. Gosh, it looked so much bigger when we bought it in Kite City for just Elijah :)

Missing Family

One of the hardest things to "give up" is your family. I'm reminded of Jesus' words when he said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:37-39) Wow...this is deep, and cuts deep to the heart. To be worthy of Christ...what does that look like? I aspire to live a life worthy of Christ, though I feel I'll never make it. But, praise the Lord it's not by works but by God's grace through faith that we're saved!! (Eph. 2:8-9)

Prior to leaving to head back to India I walked with Elijah through my (Kristen's) parents back yard and explained that we would be saying goodbye soon. I told him how we were going back to India, which he's aware that that's where we live, and we wouldn't see Nanna, Papa, Lolly, etc, or be at Nanna's house anymore. So, we were gonna have to say goodbye to all these things/people. I walked around to some of the places he loved in the yard and said goodbye within his hearing. Not that he understood all of it, but he's very aware of what goodbye means because he's had to do it so often in his short lifetime :(

I didn't know how much of our talk actually sunk in until I overheard him talking to my mom at the airport. I couldn't keep the tears from stinking my eyes when I heard Elijah say, "I not go to your house no more Nanna."

Hugging everyone, watching their reactions and faces, and waving as we walked beyond the elevator doors...not to see them for another two years unless they make the long flight...it hurts. It's never easy,  I never have a dry face, my breathing is always hard cause I'm trying to choke back the emotion. This, again, is no doubt the hardest part of this life.

Then when we arrive life gets busy. We were getting to know our new team - new 'family', getting to know our city, seeing news things, eating new foods. Many new and exciting, and sometimes challenging things. Glimpses of missing family here and there, but your mind is mostly filled with what's in front of you. However, this is not the case for Elijah.

Everyday Elijah's gotten involved with whatever is at hand. While we were staying at our team leaders house he enjoyed playing with their kids, their toys, going to the local park, the mall, etc. Since we've been in our home he enjoys playing with his toys, riding the scooter, playing on our roof, going to the local park, visiting new friends, etc. But, everyday, no lie, Everyday, he talks about his cousins.

While we were in America he got to know his four boy cousins on my side really well. Though he loves all of them, and was thrilled whenever any of them were around, he became especially attached to Jonas, who's six. So, since coming here, although he said goodbye to them, he asks about them or says something he wants to share with them everyday. Here's some examples: He says he wants Jonas to come stay on "that bed", pointing to his bed. He would ask if Jonas, Evan, Micah, and Aden could go to the park with him. He told me to put Jonas' name on the wall after I hung his name. He points out of the living room window and says he wants to go see them at "that house", again pointing. He asks why he can't see them and when I explain that they live in America and we live in India he says, "why they go ore there to Merica?" (as if they're the ones who moved to some crazy place:) He often grabs a toy and tells me he wants to play with it with Jonas. Some days he just says things and is fine, and other days he gets a little emotional.

Here's some pictures of Elijah with his "friends" (cousins) that he "left":

All the boys wearing their Duck Dynasty tshirts

Neal and I have been praying for some good friends for Elijah and Elise. Right now, friends are such an important thing in Elijah's life and he longs for them. He's always asking, "where my friends?" whenever we leave someones house we've been visiting. Lord, bless him in this area with precious boys who come to seek You as we're praying Elijah does.



Here's some pictures of Elijah with the beginnings of his new friendships:
To the right is our team leaders two oldest, Sean who's four, and Katie who's two. Bottom left is a local family I met who's oldest is nine and youngest is three. The bottom right is one of my best friends little girl who's two.

Transition

Transition is always a hard thing, but especially on a family with small children. Our family is of course no exception. To paint the picture of what our transition has looked like over the past five months I'll list all the places we've been.

Kite City (January) - packing our house and saying goodbye to our home and friends we've had the last two years 

Thailand for two weeks (Jan. & Feb.) - vacation with Neal's family

Fly 36 hours back to America (Feb. - May) 

- Kristen's parents house in Arab for one and a half weeks 

- Gatlinburg, TN for one week vacation with Kristen's family

- Neal's parents house in Madison for almost two weeks

- Kristen's parents house

- Wake Forest, NC to visit our dear friends and church of 3 years

- Neal's parents house

- Kristen's parents house

- Neal's parents house

- Day trip to Nashville

- Kristen's parents house

- Neal's parents house for our last night in America

- Fly 25 hours to Garden City, India

- New team leaders house for a month

- Moved into our new home here in Garden City...been here two weeks :)

Ridiculous? Oh yes, that's a ridiculous schedule of change for a two year old and a baby. Not that we aren't so thankful for all this time, especially our time home, but the displacement feeling can become wearisome. 

I (Kristen) have come to learn so much about Elijah through all this. I've learned that when dealing with stress and transition he becomes quite disobedient, emotional, and eats about three different foods and that's it. Even when he's offered things that I know he loves, he refuses to eat them. He really struggles with not having a good routine and he fights sleep, although he needs it so much. The Lord's been helping me as I parent and love him through all this. He's been helping me to learn when Elijah is acting out of stress or culture shock, etc., or when he's just being defiant. I haven't perfected noticing the distinction, but I'm getting much better. 

It honestly hurts my heart to watch these things unfold in my sweet son. I know that he's two and so many of these things go along with his age...but it's still hard as a parent to see and deal with. I pray so much for he and Elise. My desire and what I'm trying to cultivate in both of them is a love for the Lord and His Word, the fruit of the Spirit, sharing, love for people, etc. The best way to teach is to model, but it's not always easy during transition to have these areas really strong in my own life, much less overflowing in order to pour into someone else's...so again, transition is hard on us all. 

Since we've been in our new home though, I can already tell a difference in not only Elijah, but all of us. We are all getting better sleep being back in our own beds, and own rooms. Elijah has been sleeping through the night almost every night we've been in our home, and Elise only wakes up once in the early morning. Both kids have been eating so much better. Elise is just eating more because she's always eaten anything I give her, and Elijah has started branching back out with eating different foods. I didn't say all foods, but many that he enjoyed eating before the transition started. Praise the Lord!!   

Thank you Lord for the life you've called Neal and I to journey with You in, and for my sweet children. Thank you for giving me children who through tough times and transition are pretty easy going to just roll with things. Thank you for Your grace towards us, and helping us to be gracious towards each other. I'm blessed!

The three of us at a popular coffee shop (CCD) our first week in Garden City

Making a new friend

So I made a new friend here in Garden City in the most unusual way.

We bumped into each other.... literally.

I was driving home late one night on the scooter (actually one I was borrowing),
and I realized that I missed the turn and slowed down quickly.

Some people follow a little to close here, and suddenly we slid into each other,
he nudged me from behind.

In his defense I might should have slowed down more and not thrown on the brakes...
(don't freak out Mom, its ok :) It was raining earlier so it made the street slick.

none the less I got up and was surprised that he asked if I was ok... which the answer was yes.

He found I was a foreigner (and surprisingly did not get mad and ask for money).

He then asked if I was liking the city and if we needed any help.

WOW! What kindness to think of me when I am slamming into people!

So we talked some more and he said that he could help me with any business needs I had.

We are planning to go to the market and shop for
fabrics for our new clothing business soon
(more coming on that later).

He also came and met me on his only day off from work later on.

Fah brought me a box full of ice cream from the shop he works at... it had dried fruits and honey in it, Yum (It is a quite expensive brand actually)! I took it inside and then we went out on his bike to go and see our new flat.

On the way to the flat, we got a flat... a flat tire!

So we walked it down the road a little ways and found someone to fix it.

It was going to be a lot of expense for him (2-3 days wages), 

but I did not mind paying for it for him.

(after all I already had injured his bike once.)

Afterward we went to get coffee and chatted 

for a bit.

He then had to go back to work and finish the rest of the evening selling more ice cream,
 so we parted ways.

Thank you God for giving me a great new friend!!!

A New day is dawning!

Finally we have arrived at our new flat and we must say that it has been worth the wait!

We were waiting for some work to be completed but now the wait is over.

For those who have been following us over the past few days and hoping for more pictures...

they are coming!

Almost everything is set up in the flat and we will be adding photos soon!

We were without internet for some time so we were unable to get on here and post. We did not have anything but limited access to the internet via 3G phones.

This is a picture that I captured this morning as I met with God on the roof, what a beautiful scene!

Actually we are on the top floor so the view is just as good from our own home.

I think we saw almost 40+ flats before we found this one and it is turning out to be a great place!
We had actually settled on another place when the doors were shut there in the hustle and bustle of many people to a more quiet place. There are many kind people on the streets and friendly people just ready for us to begin connecting with.


I am so grateful and must say that His timing is good, we got moved in just a few days before our friends returned home from the states to their own flat that we were occupying.

Many things are happening here and new oppurtunities come each day so be ready for much information to come.

Elise having fun

We are finally settling into our new flat (we now have internet after being offline for almost 2 weeks.

Alot has happened since then, and we will slowly update you.


As we have seen Elise go from crawling to standing one thing she has discovered is the ability to get into chairs.

Big girl can sit with a friend and have a chat with her friend the German Bear...

And also have enough time to sit back and catch up with other friends over the mobile phone.

It is a tough life for this up and coming girl!

Moving tomorrow

We will move into our new flat tomorrow!

Although all the things are not perfectly ready, we still are moving (we have done this before).

The cabinets were put in a few days ago and more is still happening here. There was no stove or kitchen sink at this point, 2 days after we were supposed to be able to move.

There are light fixtures missing, no toilet paper holders, oh yea and our water purifier is not getting the proper flow of water. Sometimes we just have to move to push things along. I was told we could move in 6 days ago and still things are not ready. But after all this is India, things take more time and getting the necessary items is a complex issue (this is why few people move here for business: infrastructure issues... hopefully things will improve!)

Sometimes it feels like our whole life is a constant move... moving from Kite city, back home to our parents for a month, visiting friends in the states, then into a friend's house in India, then finally to our new flat... it has been almost 6 months of displacement!

We went ahead and moved the items from the warehouse even though things were not perfect, but we have been staying with a friend until it is somewhat inhabitable.

It was not ready at this point, many wires and dangerous tools were lying around. That will not be around when we come tomorrow (hopefully! ;) 

But finally we have a place we can call home. And that is all that matters.